School Visits

Yesterday, I got to be the guest reader in Julia's kindergarten class, a fact which I had kept from her until the very moment I showed up to read.  As the kindergarten class assembled and chose their silent reading books to flip through on the rug, I saw Julia glance over and notice me, then walk to the book shelf with a barely-concealed grin of joy spreading across her face.  The whole experience was worth it for that moment alone, but luckily, the actual reading and Q&A afterwards was a pleasure as well.  The kids were polite, respectful, and VERY curious about the book I had read, and Julia looked pleased as punch to have her special moment as Child of the Guest Reader.

When I picked her up from school later that afternoon, she told me, as she skipped along beside me down the path towards the street, what a great day it had been.

ME: Were you excited when you realized I was the Guest Reader?
JULIA: SOO excited!  Mom?  I don't know why, but whenever you're in my classroom, I just feel like...like...
ME: Like it's special?
JULIA: Yeah.  I just feel, like, SO HAPPY that you're there.

I am truly going to cherish those words for the rest of my life.  She even elaborated upon her feelings last evening when I was putting her to bed.

JULIA: When you're at my school I just feel like I want to, like, CRY happy tears or LAUGH or something!

I expect her to hold steadfast to this sensation when she's a teenager and I'm a chaperone on her school field trips.

I got another opportunity to be at Julia's school today, as we Rowes all headed over for her school science fair.  Julia and Madeleine were entranced by the various displays, including a live reptile area, cases containing a real human heart and a real human brain, and plenty of interactive, hands-on stations in which they could create atoms, bags of (fake) blood, and musical instruments, as well as look through magnifying glasses and microscopes and even touch a real meteor.

As we left the science fair, I asked the girls what their favorite parts had been.  Julia had too many to list, but Madeleine was very specific.

MADELEINE: My favorite part was making my BLOOD.  Actually, I had TWO favorites.  My SECOND favorite part was making the INSTRUMENT with you, Mom.

The instrument to which she's referring is a set of pan-pipes that both girls got to make out of straws.  Neither set of pan-pipes actually works all that well; Julia at least gets the concept of blowing air across, although the only sound that it really makes is the sound of someone puffing out air.  Madeleine never quite got that far and decided instead to stick the straws inside her mouth and puff and dribble spit all over them.  At least she was aware of her deficiency at straw pan-pipe playing, as she announced to Julia during out drive home, "Julia, I know I'm not GREAT at doing MUSIC."

Ethan decided to try and launch into a technical explanation as to why the pan-pipes work the way they do (more specifically, why the shorter "pipes" make a higher-pitched sound than the longer ones) while we were around the dinner table tonight.  Ahhhh, the wholesome family science discussion as we all sit down to dinner, with Ethan giving a very detailed (and long) explanation while Julia looks at him blankly and Madeleine spontaneously spurts out things like "Poopy Uncle Pants!" and "MUSIC PLEASE!"



Ethan was truly disappointed that his scientific explanation had inspired nothing but boredom in his elder daughter.  He had truly hoped that she would be a kindred spirit in her scientific prowess and interest.  I think he shouldn't worry TOO much though.  Even if Julia is a lost cause, it seems pretty clear to me that Madeleine will have his engineer's brain and powers of thinking.  Or, if not, at the very least, she will likely be able to alter the laws of physics and shoot laser beams out of her eyes or something.